“Our strategy is to see what interests there are out there that are not catered for on (German) television,” said Youtube manager Robert Kyncl. The concept behind the 12 new channels would be to “fill the blind spots,” he added.
The “Original Channels” concept launched last year in the US, and the German channels should serve up a range of health, comedy, sport, cars and chat shows and should be online by the end of 2012.
A couple of confirmed examples are “Heartbeat Berlin,” which will cover fashion and lifestyle in the German capital and is being made by large private broadcaster RTL. Comedy sketch show “Ponk” will show life in a student house and “Happy & Fit” will cover health and well-being.
Similar models are also being planned for France and the UK. Google, which owns Youtube, said it would capitalise on them with audience-targeted adverts, shown before a programme.
Kyncl stressed that the company was not trying to compete with traditional television broadcasters. He added he felt positive about that the advert clips concept, which he hoped companies would pay more for when they see how successful it is.
DPA/The Local/jcw
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